In 1916 Doris Jolly graduated MB ChB from Otago University, and soon after married another doctor, William Gordon, entering a lifelong partnership. In 1919 they established a practice in Stratford, purchasing a small hospital there, and remained in service to rural Taranaki for the rest of their lives. However, “Dr Doris” had a much wider national influence. From the time of her training, she was critical of the limited view taken in medical education of childbirth and of the role of mothering. She set about raising the status of obstetrics and improving midwifery care and supported the Plunket Society’s aims of improving the health and happiness of mothers and families. In 1928 Doris Gordon became the first Australasian woman to be admitted a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and in 1954 was elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Although in her own practice she undertook all the usual tasks of a rural GP, she lobbied for doctors to provide full obstetric services, and promoted the concept of hospital deliveries for all mothers. Two major achievements were raising the funds to establish a Chair of Obstetrics at Otago University, and establishing a modern teaching hospital. From 1939 she sought the means to develop postgraduate obstetrical training and research, and the opening of the National Women’s Hospital in Auckland in 1964 owed a great deal to her tenacity and vision.

She was herself constantly learning, and quick to try new techniques which would offer ease and safety to women and their babies. She recognised that health can never be separated from happiness, and that public health also implies attention to wider issues of welfare. Her immense energy and enthusiasm, coupled with a flair for organisation and effective public speaking, enabled her to promote issues of national significance which affected the lives of generations.